Standardizing nursing-home admission dates for short-term hospital stays.

In the Institutional Population Component of the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey, the definition of a nursing home admission was standardized to ignore the readmission of patients discharged for short-term hospital care. Approximately one out of six persons residing in nursing homes on the survey reference date (January 1, 1987) had been readmitted for this reason. The effect of the standardization was to increase the average length of stay of residents prior to the reference date by approximately 5 months. The percentage of long-stay residents, those living in the facility for more than three years, increased from 31% to 36%. The percentage admitted from the community during the previous year increased from 32% of those admitted in 1986 to 41%.